Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,119,809 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock after selling 27,796 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.22% of Franklin Resources worth $26,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Franklin Resources during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin Resources by 277.0% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,150 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin Resources by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the closed-end fund’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. 47.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BEN shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Franklin Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 14th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Franklin Resources in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin Resources from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

Shares of BEN stock opened at $32.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.55. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $34.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.12.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The closed-end fund reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.16. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 10.58% and a net margin of 8.12%.The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. Franklin Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.76%.

About Franklin Resources

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm’s core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton’s product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.